New Railway Strike

The workers' committee of Israel Railways decided, Sunday afternoon, to strike the railroad's engine houses in Lod and Haifa, following the expansion of maintenance work carried out by an outside contractor at the sites. Employees represented by the committee will not carry out repairs and trains will not be inspected, as required. Disruptions in train traffic are also expected.

While the 20,000-kilometer maintenance was agreed upon by labor and management to be given to Caterpillar, the outside contractor, maintenance after 3,000 and 6,000 kilometers is also being handled by the company, which was not agreed upon. The workers say a number of changes were made in violation of agreements, including an agreement to negotiate them. The workers are concerned about job security and the status of their organized labor.